78 respondents out of 97 or 81% overwhelmingly voted “yes, the American government SHOULD PROTECT Arctic wildlife and habitat because environmental security should be a top priority”

4 respondents out of 97 or 4% voted “no, the American government SHOULD NOT PROTECT Arctic wildlife and habitat and should drill for fossil fuels because energy security should be a top priority”

1 respondent out of 97 or 1% voted “I don’t know”

1 respondent out of 97 or 1% voted “I don’t care”

6 respondents out of 97 or 6% voted “I do not believe in climate change or Arctic melting but the American government SHOULD PROTECT Arctic wildlife and habitat”

7 respondents out of 97 or 7% voted “I do not believe in climate change or Arctic melting and the American government SHOULD NOT PROTECT Arctic wildlife and habitat from drilling”

There are obvious limitations to this poll. Ideally, I wanted 1000 or more respondents. In the end, I received 97 votes but I believe 97 votes can be a good indicator of how people feel about the issue. Another limitation is that the issue or question relates to the American environmental and political landscapes. Therefore, some may argue Americans should answer the poll and not foreigners. However, the poll was open to all visitors from around the world. Furthermore, it could be argued that readers of The Conservation Report are overwhelmingly environmentalists. I do want a greater regular readership but most visitors to The Report stumble upon my forum via a web search. I also try to keep the information on The Report diverse by including non-environmental topics like politics or racism. People often search these headlines and as a result, The Report does receive a significant amount of individuals that probably do not align themselves with environmental causes but may be willing to vote in a poll to share their opinion.

Some may argue that individuals can vote more than once to impose their belief but I believe most visitors do vote in good faith. In addition, the poll does use some type of cookie or IP address recording system that does not allow individuals to vote more than once. I believe it is a cookie system. It is not a 100% full proof system but it does provide some protection against spammers or ensuring a one person and one vote result.

In addition, I could have made the questions simpler but I wanted to try to discover or cover the fact that there could be individuals that do not believe in climate change or Artic melting but do want to protect Arctic wildlife. Otherwise, the question went to individuals wanting to protect or not to protect Arctic wildlife because for some the issues go hand in hand. A good poll should not be too complicated.

In conclusion, I do believe the results do illustrate that people overwhelmingly care about the environment and that governments in addition to individuals must become more altruistic towards the environment.